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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Oodley-Noodley Baby Playdate

There was great anticipation...they knew SOMETHING was up, but weren't quite sure just what. They saw me putting something into their little inflatable swimming pool - in the playroom! But they couldn't get to it.

So, then, what do you get when you mix 5 toddlers and 20 pounds of cooked spaghetti noodles? A whole lot of fun, and a great sensory experience! I asked each mom to bring 5 lbs. of cooked noodles, and then I added some plastic utensils, plastic cups, plastic containers, etc., to let the kiddos play in the noodles.

Mackenzie was not willing to sit in the noodles, but preferred to take the noodles OUT of the pool and play with them on the table - which is actually sort of what I figured she would do, given all of her issues.

Makayla got in the pool for a while, and scooped some noodles with the spoon into a cup and a plastic container. But she didn't stay for long, and spent most of the time reaching in with her hands to grab a fistful of noodles.

Layla and Phoebe, two of our little friends, were, by far, the bravest, and spent the most time in the noodles, though even they didn't spend nearly as much time as we all thought would happen. We all laughed at how much time we spent sitting around the big pool of noodles with no kids in it!

There was plenty of eating involved, of course. Yum, noodles!

Noodles between your toes, however, can be a problem.

And while I personally thought it would be a GREAT idea to re-purpose the noodles (you know how I'm always re-purposing items, right?) for dinners for the next month or so, the other moms insisted on taking the noodles out to the trash before they left, for fear that I actually WOULD serve them to my kids.

All in all, we had a great time, and I would highly recommend this to all of you mamas of crawlers and toddlers out there!!

(Though I have to warn you that my husband did give me a rather sideways glance last night at midnight when I was setting up the kiddie pool in the playroom and asked me what on earth I was doing. I said, "Tomorrow's our spaghetti playdate." "Your huh?" He's sort of gotten used to my crazy ideas and all, but I think he was secretly relieved to come home and not find noodles plastered to the walls and ceiling!)